


The New Republic Dance Company

by jomipay



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Anakin was made for theatrics, Dance!AU, F/M, Modern AU, Multi, Obitine, There Is No War, background anidala, everything is fine, honestly so was obi-wan, in which everyone is a dancer, really so were Satine and Padme, they're all so dramatic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-05-13 07:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19246783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jomipay/pseuds/jomipay
Summary: When director of The New Republic Dance Company brings in another company to collaborate on a major project, his starlettes, Padme Amidala and Satine Kryze are intrigued by two particular dancers. Anakin Skywalker who dances as though gravity is merely a suggestion, and Ben Kenobi who has trouble putting his emotion into his work.Obitine/Anidala modern day dance au!





	1. Ugly Grapefruit

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends! This will be a multichapter story with updates most likely occurring once a week. Enjoy!

Satine woke gradually to the sounds of her ceiling fan gently humming and Padme stirring about in the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher from the sound of it. She opened her eyes to see slits of light coming in between her closed blinds. She took a quick glance at her phone, 7:10. Satine wasn’t a morning person by nature, but she had adapted to it over time. Padme on the other hand was very much a morning person and living with her had helped take the edge off them for Satine. She had to admit that it was nice to have their time to themselves in the morning when they could eat breakfast and go through their daily exercises at their leisure before heading off to the studio for the day. Satine talked herself into getting out of bed and threw the covers off her body, thankful for the cool air from the fan relieving her skin of the May heat. She groggily stumbled into the bathroom and splashed her face with some cool water. She toweled herself off and headed out to the kitchen with a bit more grace, feeling more awake now.

Padme had finished unloading the dishwasher and was pouring food into a bowl on the floor for their cat, Binx. Binx ran over from his spot in the window at the sound of the kibble hitting the bowl, emitting his strange high-pitched mewl as he did. Satine bent down to give him a pat on the head before moving on to investigate the refrigerator.

“Split some grapefruit?” she asked Padme as she pulled what was maybe the most misshapen grapefruit she’d ever seen out of their produce drawer.

 

“Ohhh, yes, grapefruit sounds good!” Padme agreed.

 

“This is the ugliest piece of fruit I have ever laid eyes on.” Satine pulled a plate and knife out as Padme sat at one of the high chairs across the counter from her. Padme tossed her long, silky hair over one of her shoulders.

 

“Mmmm, I thought so too. I had to get it—no one else could love a melon like that.” Padme explained as she accepted her wonky half of the melon from Satine, who snorted in agreement.

 

“It’s good though,” Satine admitted after swallowing her first bite of the tangy and unusually juicy piece of fruit.

 

“The ugly ones always taste the best, that’s the secret.” Padme replied with a smile, idly thumbing through her phone.

 

Satine took a few more bites of her grapefruit before grabbing some Greek yogurt from the refrigerator, she didn’t bother getting a bowl. She just opened the container and stuck a spoon in, taking a bite before offering the tub and the spoon to Padme, who accepted it thankfully.

“Big day today,” Padme said around her spoonful of yogurt, smiling brightly at Satine.

 

“Ugh, I suppose.” Satine responded and shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

 

Today _was_ a different sort of day for them than usual. They were supposed to go to a recital for another dance company, a primarily male dance company, that their artistic director, Bail wanted to recruit for an upcoming project. Bail had been talking to the head of the company for a few months now, planning behind the scenes. Satine had a feeling she knew why he’d sought this specific company out. Bail had founded the company they danced for, a strange sort of new age company, a few years ago. Ballet was the center of the dancing they practiced, but he fused more contemporary and modern into his pieces and he enjoyed pushing the limits of tradition. Satine and Padme had been training with Bail for years and gladly joined “The New Republic Dance Company” when he’d founded it. They had jumped at the opportunity to keep training with him and he’d developed them into the stars of the company. Bail had very talented female dancers, the most talented of which nowadays were Padme and Satine, but the company had been lacking in male talent recently. The most talented of their male dancers had been around Bail’s age when the company was founded and the last of them had retired a few months ago.

Bail liked choreographing duets and he had been unsatisfied with his current male talent thus far. Only a few had the versatility he was seeking for the project he was working on, and they weren’t ready for some of the more complicated things he no doubt had planned for future shows. Aside from that very few meshed with Padme, and _none of them_ had any chemistry with Satine.

The whole thing made Satine antsy. She found performing duets a bit distasteful if she was being honest. She didn’t usually like being touched and the touching was all quite necessary, and it all involved a great deal of trust, which she did not have in any of the male dancers in their company. Just last week one of them, a man named Tal, had dropped her during a lift, and not a particularly hard one either. She still had a yellowing bruise on her right hip from the incident.

Padme and Satine were usually soloists, and they really preferred it that way. When they had performed duet pieces recently, they had been with each other. Satine and Padme were both very strong and could do many of the less strength-based lifts with the other. Bail liked the way they looked as dancing partners, with Satine’s alabaster complexion and shoulder length, silvery gold hair contrasting beautifully with Padme’s toffee colored skin and flowing mahogany hair. Satine’s long and elegant lines paired with Padme’s shorter and softer ones. The thing that made them better partners for each other than any of the current males in the company was the simple fact that each completely trusted the other. Trust and chemistry went a long way with a partner, and they had plenty of it between the two of them.

Satine had a feeling she knew what Bail was planning with this collaboration scheme. He wanted to find partners for Padme and Satine for his new project.

 

“Do you know anything about this company?” Satine inquired as she begun putting her hair into a braid.

 

“Hm, no I don’t. Bail’s been pretty tight-lipped about them, I think he wants us to be surprised and give him our first impressions and feedback based on what we see tonight.” Padme answered, pulling her own hair up into a loose bun at the base of her neck.

 

“Figures.” Satine muttered.

 

“What do you think he’s looking for?” Padme inquired, getting up to throw her grapefruit skin in the trash.

 

“Something for his new project. Better partners for duets.” Satine mused, focusing on not getting her fingers tangled in her braid.

 

Padme giggled, “Oh, that wouldn’t be so bad!”

 

She shoved Satine’s shoulder playfully as she came around the counter to place her plate in the sink.

 

“Just think about all of the fun pieces we could do!” Padme was clearly more excited about this than her.

 

“I thought you didn’t like dancing with a partner?” Satine arched an eyebrow.

 

Padme shrugged, “I don’t like any of the options available to us presently, but I like the idea of having a partner. I mean I love having you—don’t get me wrong—”

 

“I can only lift you so high, throw you so far…” Satine sighed continuing to work on her braid.

 

“And I suppose I’d be excited to dance with someone new-- if I had to go through duet practice with Rush for a partner all the time, I might feel the same way.” Satine teased, placing a tie around her now finished braid.

 

Padme made a face.

“You’re right about that.” Padme confirmed, giving two quick nods of her head.

 

Rush was normally who Padme paired with for duet classes, and he had a sizeable and quite apparent crush on her. He’d recently taken to texting her and asking her out for dinner or lunch. Padme for her part had been very polite, but his feelings went unrequited, and she’d be happy once she could have less contact with the man.

Satine placed her plate in the sink with Padme’s, and let Binx, who was meowing at her feet, lick the last of the yogurt off the spoon.

“I’d think you’d be excited to find a good partner too, considering what your options have been.” Padme said sagely.

 

“I’m just afraid they’re all going to be that way!” Satine remarked, brushing her hand over her bruised hip.

 

Satine had no chemistry with any of the male dancers, Tal was careless and never focused enough, he made mistakes and he couldn’t keep in time with Satine. He kept in time with the music fine, but you had to respond to your partner as well, and he was no good at that. In addition to him there was a man named Pre. Satine hated Pre. He might have been her least favorite duet partner. He was overconfident and did not keep his touching to the strictly necessary, which wouldn’t be entirely unwelcome from an individual she didn’t wish she could squash like a cockroach, but then again, that was being unfair to cockroaches.

Satine wiggled her shoulders, as if trying to shake off some unpleasant feeling and walked over to their living room. They had cleared a roughly ten foot long section of wall off where they had placed a barre when Satine had moved in two years ago. Most of the floor in their living room was covered by some kind of oriental rug or piece of furniture, but there was a sizeable chunk of uncovered wooden floor in front of the barre. Behind it hung two full length mirrors side by side. The _boop_ of the Bluetooth speaker connecting to Padme’s phone could be heard as Satine pulled her leather ballet slippers on.

Padme joined Satine at the barre after getting her own shoes on.

 

“What did you pick for us this morning?” Satine inquired.

 

“Something fun.” Padme responded, a glint in her eye.

 

They both put their left hands on the bar and their feet in first position. They began their morning bar exercises as Satine heard the first chords of Xavier Dunn’s “Fuckin’ Problems” cover start, and she cackled as Padme smiled cheekily over her shoulder at her.

“We look ridiculous.” Padme said smiling at their reflections as they pliéd.

 

Neither of them had bothered to put on anything appropriate except for their shoes. Satine was wearing a thin silky tank top of pale blue that came to about the middle of her hip bones and some underwear. Padme was dressed much the same, with a pink crushed velvet tank top that had a crisscrossed back and a pair of tan lacey underwear.

“This probably covers about as much as just a leo does,” Satine mused, “but I think your choice of underwear makes your ass look better.” She teased as she smacked Padme’s butt with her right hand.

 

Padme pretended to look scandalized before pushing her rear back into Satine and laughing. They continued with their exercises—mostly without distraction.

 

This morning routine had been their ritual since moving in together. They would wake up a couple hours before being expected at the studio, eat breakfast together, go through their exercises at the barre, and then sit in the living room watching something nonsensical (their favorite recently was The Bachelor) while they went over their notes from the day before. Then they put on their dancing clothes; Padme preferred long or three-quarter sleeved leotards and short wrap skirts, Satine preferred sleeveless leotards and dance shorts. They packed snacks and lunch together before starting on their journey to the studio.

Today, their routine was no different. They decided to ride their bikes instead of walking due to the heat, the asphalt of Manhattan only serving to accentuate it. The bike ride was short, only about 5 minutes, cutting their walking time in half. When they got to the studio, a converted brownstone building with old bricks, Bail was waiting for them, smiling when he saw them. He worried about them commuting to and from the studio by themselves, even though they lived in a relatively safe neighborhood of Manhattan, just outside of the Upper Westside, and the path to the studio didn’t take them through anywhere terribly dangerous. He’d given Padme a taser and Satine had warily accepted pepper spray that she kept in her dance bag.

The studio looked like a traditional brownstone from the outside, but on the inside walls had been taken down between rooms to create more space and the décor was decidedly modern. The classrooms and dance floors were well lit with bright lights and a catwalk above two of the main floors so that directors could look down at the dancers from above.

 

Bail put came to walk in between them putting one arm over each of their shoulders.

“Hello my radiant beauties. Do you know what today is?”

 

“Tuesday?” Satine supplied drily.

 

“Very funny, Satine, but no! Today, is the day,” Bail paused with the explicit purpose of creating a dramatic effect, Padme rolled her eyes, “we see if we can find you suitable partners.” Bail wore a wide grin, his perfect teeth opalescent under the studio lights.

 

Padme giggled. Satine groaned, a low sound that came from deep within her tired soul.

 

“Come now, _mon chéri_!” Bail admonished, “Give them a chance, these men are nothing like the men you’ve been dancing with.” He brought both of their heads together with his, huddling them together conspiratorially.

 

“You are great dancers, beautiful, the lights of my life, but we cannot hold this company together with you two alone. You need counterparts, dancers that can elevate you, make you better, make you even more beautiful than you already are, _oui_?” He locked eyes with Padme and then Satine. “This project is going to be big, and we need it to be as successful as possible. We want to please our benefactors.”

Bail was right, with the retirement of the last of the founding male dancers, the company needed a boost, needed for this collaboration to be successful. The building next door to the studio had been bought by a wealthy patron of the arts. An older man that had interest in Bail and his odd company and had donated a hefty amount of money. The building had been renovated into a theatre and had a hall that led directly from it to the studio. Bail didn’t want to disappoint him with the first big production that would be hosted in the new theatre. Satine’s livelihood, at least her livelihood as she knew it could be best preserved by this collaboration going decently well.

Satine sighed, “ _Oui.”_ She agreed.

 

“So what I need both of you to do tonight, is to pay attention, mmm? Tell me what you see, I cannot catch everything with just my own eyes. Tell me what you like, what you don’t like, and find _someone_ that catches your eye.” He winked at Satine.

 

“I think we can do that.” Padme said with a small smile at Bail, Bail looked to Satine, and she nodded her ascent.

 

“Excellent!” Bail clapped his hands together.

 

“Now that has been settled, show me that modern piece you’ve been working on!”

 

The rest of the day passed without preamble. Satine and Padme showed Bail the piece they’d been choreographing themselves for a modern showcase, which he was immensely pleased with. Then they attended their pointe technique class and a jumps class before stopping for lunch, which they ate on the balcony of Bail’s office, sitting on the ground with their feet dangling over the edge between the bars of the iron railing.  After eating, they took an hour with Bail to do barre work, and he gave them the rest of the afternoon to workshop their modern piece.

After they had finished, Satine and Padme headed home, a bit earlier than usual. They made food when they got home, both being ravenous. They kept cooked white rice handy in Tupperware in the fridge and frozen salmon and tilapia fillets in the freezer for quick and healthy dinners. They ate and then showered, preparing themselves to go see their potential collaborators’ recital. Satine elected to let her hair air dry and she wore only mascara for make up. She selected a pastel yellow sundress with eyelets and a beige pair of flats to wear. She adjusted the necklace that was ubiquitously around her neck so that the clasp was at the back of her neck, where it belonged.

Padme dressed similarly to Satine, in a lilac sundress with split cap sleeves and pristine white flats. She had done her hair up in an intricate braided knot and she had put on a shade of nude lipstick.

“You look lovely.” Satine remarked, offering Padme her arm.

 

“As do you,” Padme replied taking it and walking them downstairs to wait for their car.

………

 

“’The Order?’” Satine scoffed, thumbing through a program in her plush burgundy theater seat. Padme was seated next to her and Bail was seated to Padme’s other side.

 

“At least their name is as gaudy as ours.” Satine closed the program on her lap and folded her hands over them as the lights began to dim and the chatter around them started to die down.

 

“Bah! It’s artistic, dramatic!” Bail insisted, waving a hand derisively at her across Padme.

 

As the last of the house lights dimmed, the artistic director of The Order took the stage to introduce the company. The man had shoulder length graying hair that he wore half up in a ponytail and a beard the same shade of gray as his hair.

 

“Good evening ladies and gentleman, and thank you for coming to the first New York performance of The Order. My name is Qui Jinn, and I am the artistic director for the company.” Satine was surprised to recognize his accent as Northern Irish.

 

“We are a travelling company, traditionally based in the UK, with the goal of training and developing ballet dancers that might not typically have the means to access the training they deserve.” Qui’s voice was pleasant and he had the full attention of the audience with his presence.

 

“We hope you enjoy our performance tonight. Without further pretense, let the show begin.” With that, Qui stepped back into the wings and the curtain rose.

 

As Satine and Padme watched the first two pieces of The Order’s recital, a few things became clear. They were indeed a mostly male dance company, and they were very talented. Their dancers were undeniably strong and proficient. Satine found herself thinking that maybe this would work out after all.

As the current number ended, a single dancer remained as the stage lights darkened. The music cue changed, signaling the start of a different piece and when a spotlight focused on the man Satine’s breath caught in her throat. He was maybe the most beautiful man Satine had ever seen, the same way the grapefruit she’d eaten this morning had been the ugliest she’d ever seen. And that grapefruit

had been extraordinarily ugly. Satine could feel that her mouth was hanging slightly agape but she couldn’t control herself enough to close it. The man had tousled auburn hair that shone in the light and strong, beautiful features. You could see the strong muscles of his abdomen through the thin fabric of the shirt he wore and the silhouette of the powerful muscles in his legs was apparent through the black tights he wore. Satine watched intently and was awed by his technical prowess and the height he achieved on his jumps.

 

Padme leaned in to whisper near her ear, “Satine, you’re staring.”

 

“I’m supposed to be staring, I’m watching the performance.” Satine muttered back, not quite taking her eyes off the dancer.

 

Padme giggled a bit behind her hand, “No, Satine, you’re _staring_.”

 

It wasn’t often that men caught Satine’s eye and Padme was relishing in the rarity she was witnessing.

 

“He’s good,” Padme offered.

 

“Yeah, yeah he is.” Satine mumbled, still enraptured.

 

“Do you like him?” Padme tried.

 

Satine shook her head. He was extremely technically sound, but he didn’t seem to truly connect to his piece or the music. His performance lacked emotion.

“He’s too stiff.” Satine said, still watching intently.

 

“Oh my God, Satine! You like him.” Padme’s voice was reaching the octave she reserved for when she got really excited about things.

 

Satine felt her face flush even as she tried her best to maintain a completely neutral affect.

 

“I do not!” Satine rebuked. She couldn’t think of anything else to say, she was trying to make a list in her mind of why she didn’t like him, but she was too concentrated on willing the blood to drain out of her face.

 

“You haven’t been watching anyone else this closely, where’s your program, we have to find out what his name is!” Padme reached into Satine’s lap and snatched the program out from under her hands before she could react.

 

“Bail! Satine likes this one!” Padme whispered, much to Satine’s growing embarrassment.

 

“Padme!” Satine whispered desperately, reaching to steal back her program.

 

A second dancer had joined the first on stage now. This one was taller, with longer sandy blonde hair.

 

“Padme, we’re supposed to be paying attention!”

 

“Oh hush. Bail, did you hear me? Someone has caught Satine’s eye,” Padme tried again to get Bail’s attention.

 

“ _C’est magnifique!”_ Bail turned to look at Satine, who could still feel the heat in her cheeks giving her away. His eyes were wide with surprise and amusement.

 

“Which one?” Bail demanded, grabbing one side of the program Padme was holding away from Satine’s reach.

 

“Ben Kenobi.” Padme answered, finally having found the name. “The one on our left,” she added gesturing to the two dancers now occupying the stage.

 

Bail waggled an eyebrow at Satine, “He’s very handsome.” He remarked, leaning over Padme to tell her so.

 

Satine slumped down her seat, trying to make herself invisible.

 

“He’s alright looking,” she mumbled, “If you’re into that sort of thing.” She added under her breath, trying to deny to herself that she was apparently very into ‘that sort of thing’.

 

Padme was now back to watching the stage.

 

“He’s nice too,” she commented, pointing out the dancer to their right.

 

Satine found him a bit alarming to watch. He seemed a bit reckless. Some of his jumps were so high and at such an angle that she feared he might not land them upright, but somehow, he always managed to.

 

“What’s his name?” Bail inquired.

 

“Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker, what an unusual last name!” Padme related, examining the program.

 

The three of them sat and watched the rest of the show in relative silence. Satine busied herself making mental notes about the other dancers, mainly so she wouldn’t continue to watch _him_ exclusively whenever he was onstage. At the end of the show, all the dancers came out to bow for the finale. After Ben bowed, he flashed the audience a smile that Satine found incredibly disarming. She could not manage to hide the blood in her cheeks from Padme with the newly brightened house lights. Padme looked at her and dissolved into laughter.

Satine put her face into her hands. The applause died down and the curtain closed signaling the end of the show.

Bail stood up and put a hand on Satine’s shoulder, her face still in her hands.

 

“Would you like to meet him?” he asked.

 

Satine took her face out of her hands and leaned back against the seat, letting her head hang over the back.

 

“God, yes!” She exclaimed with her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

 

……………

 

Bail led Padme and Satine back stage. Bail shook hands with Qui and introduced Satine and Padme to him. Satine hadn’t realized how tall and broad he was when she had seen him onstage. He towered over her and Padme. Bail explained to Qui that they were hoping to meet some of the company dancers.

 

“Oh, certainly!” Qui responded cheerily, “Right this way, ladies, after you, please.” He gestured down the hall with an arm.

 

Satine and Padme padded down a long hallway to what appeared to be a green room.

 

“Anyone in particular you were hoping to talk to?” Qui ventured.

 

“I believe the girls were fond of Ben and Anakin?” Bail looked to Padme for confirmation. She nodded.

 

Qui looked at them knowingly. “Ah, you ladies have good taste!”

 

Qui called them over, and then he looked back at Satine and Padme and winked, the man actually winked at them, before introducing them.

Satine miraculously maintained her composure.

 

“May I present to you Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.”

 

Ben was just a bit taller than Satine and Anakin was almost as tall as Qui. Ben flashed the same disarming smile at them, only this time Satine had fortified herself against such weapons.

 

“Pleasure to meet you both.” Satine stated smiling demurely.

 

Ben stepped forward, offering his hand for Satine to shake.

 

“Oh, I assure you, the pleasure is all ours, and who might I have the delight of making the acquaintance of?”

She found his voice pleasing. It was smooth and silky, and his accent wasn’t dissimilar to Satine’s own. His palms were soft, and his fingers were calloused were they rubbed against the back of her hand. His hands were much bigger than hers and she enjoyed the warmth of it against her skin.

“Satine,” she answered.

She hadn’t let go of his hand yet, being transfixed by the blue grey of his lively eyes. He hadn’t let go of her hand yet either.

 

“A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman.” He gave her a slightly crooked grin.

 

Satine internally rolled her eyes.

 

“Do you tell that to all the women with pretty names?”

 

“No, just the ones that render me at a loss for other suitable conversation starters.”

 

He finally realized he still had hold of her hand and gently let it go.

 

Anakin had walked over to Padme and was chatting with her and Bail.

 

Satine smirked at him, refusing to be won over so easily. She kept her gaze icy.

 

“I very much enjoyed your performance, you’re very talented.” She told him, plucking a stray piece of string off the hem of her dress.

 

“You’re too kind.” Ben responded, though his grin grew in size.

 

“Actually,” Satine began, with a devilish gleam in her eye, “I did find you to be a bit stiff.”

 

Ben’s expression shifted, “Stiff?” he asked.

 

“Yes, quite stiff actually, dispassionate, even.” Satine kept her face neutral.

 

“Dis-dispassionate!” Ben failed to keep his voice even.

 

“Ah, yes, I’ve told him it would suit him to put a bit more of himself into his performances, a bit more emotion.” Qui offered as he appeared beside Satine.

 

Ben glared up him.

 

“Well, one does have to possess a certain depth of emotion to pull from for such things.” Satine intimated.

 

Ben looked offended until he caught the expression on Satine’s face, she was messing with him.

 

“You never know, I could surprise you.” Ben quipped.

 

“Hmm, I’d very much like to be surprised as well.” Qui retorted, snapping Ben’s attention away from Satine.

 

Qui placed a hand at Satine’s elbow, turning her to face Bail, Padme, and Anakin as he spoke.

 

“We were thinking of getting everyone together sometime next week for a more extensive meet and greet, maybe lunch and some drinks, do you think you’ll be able to join us?”

 

“Yes, that sounds lovely,” Satine answered Qui.

 

Padme was waving farewell to Anakin, confirming to him that she would be there for lunch.

Satine turned her attention back to Ben.

 

“Until then,” she stated before turning to follow Padme back down the long hallway.

 

“I look forward to it!” he called after her.

 

 _Oh, I’ll look forward to it, too_ , she thought to herself, smiling wickedly over her shoulder at him as she took Padme’s arm and then they took their leave, ready to go home.

                                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Beneficial yoga

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few weeks and finally the Order is here to start settling in to their temporary home with the New Republic. Ben has a *day* at the studio after getting into a bit of a fight with Satine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! I had the major part of this chapter finished for about a month but I just couldn't find time to finish it until now. Thanks for reading! There will be more notes at the end of the chapter and a link to some of the yoga poses that are mentioned later.

Anakin talked about Padme any chance he could bring her up. It’d been that way since he’d met her a few weeks ago. Ben thought about Satine at least as often but refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he tried to convince himself that he really didn’t like her. She was clearly too haughty and stuck up for him and she seemed determined to torment him, and no he didn’t think about the delicate hourglass shape her waist and hips made and the way the sundress she had been wearing accentuated it—he definitely didn’t think about those things at all. The truth of the matter was Ben was quite shaken by his reaction to Satine. He didn’t take anything more than a passing interest in women usually, and definitely not an interest of this magnitude so quickly. She’d made an appearance in several of his dreams under decidedly inappropriate circumstances, much to his embarrassment.

Anakin was looking forward to their day ahead with The New Republic, he’d been chittering excitedly about it for the past few days. Ben feigned disinterest but every time it was brought up his heart pounded a little harder in his chest. They were supposed to meet Organa early in the day to observe how the company’s daily routines and classes usually went and then: dinner and drinks.

“Are you excited to see her again?” Anakin asked with a smirk, not looking up from his computer as he sat at his desk in the bedroom they shared.

Ben looked around the room for the clothing he was planning on wearing, evading, “To see who?”

“Oh, you know.” Anakin teased with a malicious glint in his eye, turning to look at him.

Ben ignored him, continuing to gather his clothing and heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He examined his hair in the mirror. He ran a wet comb through it and then decided better of it, spraying it with product and running his fingers through it haphazardly instead. His beard was growing back since he’d shaved it for their last show, but it wasn’t the length he usually kept it between performances. He messed with his hair for a few more minutes. He had already put more effort into than he’d wanted and he was _not_ trying to impress anyone. He gave it frustrated ruffle before deciding it was good enough. Anakin was still on his computer when he emerged.

“Hey come here.” Anakin called to him with his eyes glued to his laptop screen.

Ben rolled his eyes at Anakin’s demanding tone and walked to peer over his shoulder. He was looking at the website for The New Republic. He had the company’s roster pulled up with their professional headshots. He determinedly didn’t look for Satine’s. Anakin’s cursor hovered over Padme’s, and Satine’s happened to be right next to it. The headshots were black and white, and all the dancers wore plain black. Satine’s hair and skin contrasted sharply with the black of the high-necked tank top she wore. Her eyes glistened the same as the small jewel hanging around her neck from a delicate chain.

“You like her.” Anakin accused, having caught him staring.

“I don’t even know her, of course I don’t like her, Anakin.”

“Whatever you say, Ben.” Anakin waved a hand dismissively in his general direction, unashamedly clicking on Padme’s headshot.

“Besides, I hardly think it’s proper etiquette to even think about becoming _involved_ with someone we’re meant to be working with in a _professional_ capacity.” Ben scowled.

“Listen, whatever you’re implying—” Anakin started before Ben cut him off.

“I’m not implying anything, you’re looking at her profile right now, it’s quite explicit.” Ben retorted.

If Anakin was startled by this, he did not show it.

“I’m just interested in learning more about the company.” Anakin answered coolly, placing his hands in a show of peace in front of him

“She’s just the only dancer from the company I’ve officially met, so I thought I’d start by learning more about her.” Anakin was trying to sound innocent. Ben knew better.

“And what exactly have you learned in conducting this research?” Ben raised an eyebrow at him in what he hoped was a scornful looking way. Anakin was not deterred.

“Oh, just that her _and_ your lady are incredible, here look, there’s a video!” Anakin gushed.

“Anakin, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m not interest—”

Anakin clicked on the video in question and Ben lost his train of thought, instead enthralled by one of the two girls giggling in front of the camera.

A voice spoke from somewhere behind the camera, Ben assumed it was Organa.

“Okay, hello everyone!” the voice began, “Today we are going to share with you a section from one of our upcoming performances featuring two of our lovely dancers—girls, get it together, this is for the people!”

Satine and Padme were giggling in front of the camera,

“Hello people, we’re so sorry--” Padme began in between giggles

“--It’s just that he’s making some terribly awful faces back there.” Satine finished for her, gesturing somewhere behind the camera at Bail, before they both dissolved into a fit.

“They are over exaggerating, there is nothing happening back here, really ladies, how unprofessional!” Bail mock scolded with his French accent thickening.

Ben found the whole thing endearing to watch, he could tell the two were close by the way they leaned on each other laughing, and he could tell they had a good relationship with Organa from the way he teased them. Satine was even prettier when she laughed.

Bail continued to speak in the video, “the two ladies that will be performing this segment for you today, once they get it together, are Padme Amidala and Satine Kryze.” Padme waved at the camera, followed by Satine.

Satine and Padme composed themselves. Bail started the music for them and Padme and Satine took their places and waited for the cue for the segment they were dancing. The piece they were performing had a lot of lifts and jumps in it. Satine mostly lifted Padme, but sometimes it was the other way around. The dance showed off their strength and talent, which had to be what Organa was going for by selecting it to be showcased on the website.

“Wow,” was all Ben managed to say, dropping the façade for a moment, mesmerized.

“I know,” Anakin smirked. They’re amazing, and the dance, it’s quite—”

“Sensual” Ben’s mouth answered before his brain could filter for him. He flushed, horrified, once he realized what he’d said.

It was rather sensual, there was a lot of touching and more intimate lifts.

“It’s hot.” Anakin blurted, rather bluntly.

“I mean, it’s a statement piece, it’s meant to be provocative.” Anakin stated, backtracking.

Ben tried to keep his tone and face neutral as he responded. “Yes, well they’re very talented, it seems.”

Both men stared awkwardly at the screen for a moment after the video had ended, until a knock on their door startled them.

“Ready to go yet?” Qui’s deep voice inquired through the door of their room in the townhouse that they shared with him and two other company members.

Ben cleared his throat.

“Just about!” Ben responded, nudging Anakin with his shoulder as they bustled about their room gathering the rest of their belongings for the day.

 

 

 

Satine and Padme had left for the studio earlier than usual that morning. They wanted to get a good amount of work done because they were planning on going out after their dinner with The Order, and they wanted to be able to sleep their night of drinking off well into the morning. They’d rehearsed some of the steps for their pieces and already done some barre and floor work this morning, giving them at least a couple extra hours to sleep tomorrow. They had just finished stretching and were waiting for everyone to arrive for class when a small contingent of dancers from the Order arrived.

Satine and Padme casually observed them climbing the stairs up to the catwalk. Padme flashed her a grin. “Do you think everyone will be on their best behavior today?” She was specifically referring to Pre, who had made his displeasure at what he saw as being rudely shoved aside well known.

“We can hope, but I doubt it.” Satine reached into her bag and extracted a bag of almonds and dried cranberries.

Satine crunched on her almonds for a moment before swallowing. “Honestly, he’s such a dramatic idiot.”

“Pre?” Padme asked, though she knew the answer. Satine nodded in response, popping more almonds into her mouth and staring up at Bail talking animatedly to Qui and the other Order members on the catwalk, trying to tell herself she wasn’t searching for someone in particular.

Padme traced her line of sight and had to stop herself from giggling when she saw who Satine was staring at.

“Not that either of us have practical names, but what kind of a name is ‘Pre’ anyway? Is it short for something?”

Satine snorted. “Yeah, it’s short for ‘Predatory’.”

Padme giggled, “Yeah he does seem to get a little touchy with you.”

“Also angry.” Satine added.

Padme frowned, considering. “I can’t tell if he wants to sleep with you, if he has some kind of personal vendetta against you, or if he actually wants to be you.”

Satine brought her attention back to Padme and put her hands up in front of her, as if trying to put some kind of physical distance between her and what Padme had said. “Whatever it is, I don’t want to know. It’s his problem.”

Padme nodded her agreement. Satine went back to her surreptitious staring.

“You know, I almost didn’t recognize him with the beard.”

Satine started a bit at having been discovered. “Oh, I can’t say I noticed.” She tried to do some damage control.

“It’s okay, you know you’re busted.” Padme smiled wide at Satine. “It looks good on him, what do you think?”

Satine frowned, contemplating. “I haven’t made up my mind.”

“Maybe you just need a closer look,” Padme waggled her eyebrows suggestively, “A closer _inspection_.”

Satine giggled in spite of herself. “What about yours?” she asked, recovering. “What do you think about his hair?” Satine nodded her head in the direction of the catwalk, referring to Anakin’s shaggy chin-length locks.

Padme responded instantly, “I hadn’t noticed it was so long when I met him! He must have had it slicked back.” She put a finger to her lips, thinking, then she stared up at him and squinted her eyes. “I think I like it.” She smiled, “Makes him look rouge-ish.”

“Oh, and you like your men rogue, do you?” Satine teased.

Padme opened her mouth to form a response before quickly closing it again. Satine looked over her shoulder to see Pre strutting in with his bag slung over a shoulder. “By all means ladies, don’t stop your chit chatting on account of me.”

When neither of them said anything he continued, “You both seem rather excited to be hosting usurpers.”

Satine snorted, “That’s a bit much, you could learn a lot from them.” She scolded.

“Easy to say for someone in no danger of being replaced. How nice it must be to be one of Bail’s golden girls.” He gave them both a sickly smile and settled down on a bench on the opposite side of the room.

Satine threw her snack back into her bag and clasped her hands in her lap. “Well,” She inhaled deeply, “we’re off to a flying start!”

 

               Bail was explaining the schedule of classes and the setup of the studio to the members of the Order present. Below them, in one of the main classrooms, Satine and Padme were putting their toe shoes on as some more of the company members started to trickle in for their first class.

“This is quite the impressive set up you have here.” Qui remarked earnestly to Bail who smiled and thanked him enthusiastically.

Ben agreed, the studio space here was nothing like the spaces they’d normally had. The studio space was much bigger than its outward appearance had led him to believe. The classrooms and studios were spacious and there were several individual rooms around that one could practice in by themselves with shut doors. There were plenty of places to relax with plush chairs and dimmer lighting provided by strings of holiday lights, allowing for a reprieve from the harsh lights over the main classrooms.

The main classrooms themselves were massive and the catwalks above them were spectacular, giving anyone that stood there a view of all the dancers on the floor at once. Bail ensured everyone was comfortable before explaining the class about to take place. It was a pointe class that all rostered members of the company participated in. It began with simpler exercises and then broke off into groups, depending on skill levels, to learn or work on techniques. Everyone then came back together towards the end of class to watch and critique what others had been working on.

“We’re going to test some of the choreography we’ve discussed.” Bail nodded at Qui.

“Do you know who want as your leads?” Qui inquired.

Bail folded his arms neatly behind his back. “I have an idea, yes. Everyone is required to audition of course, but Padme and Satine are at such a level presently that I would be astonished if anyone were to perform better.”

Qui nodded knowingly in response.

“They also have a few skills no one else has been able to learn yet, they make up my most advanced group right now.”

               “I’m quite excited to observe them.” Qui responded.

Anakin nudged Ben with his elbow, Ben rolled his eyes at him.

Bail excused himself to start the class and left them assembled on the catwalk to watch.

Bail himself was clearly a great teacher and a master of his craft. He took the class, around 14 students, through several warmup combinations. He then demonstrated the next combination, gave the class a minute to learn it, and then he had them demonstrate it in groups of two. After everyone had gone, he would demonstrate the next one, and so on. He got to a jump combination that required a good chunk of the floor and instead of demonstrating it himself, had Satine and Padme do it. He told them what he wanted, gave them a few seconds to talk it over and then they made their first pass at it. He gave them some corrections, and they did it again. By the third time they did it, they had it. Bail gave the class five minutes to practice and then had them go in pairs, giving everyone corrections after all of their attempts.

Bail broke them up into groups after that. Ben overheard part of a conversation Bail was having with two particularly sour looking men, trying to get them to practice an extension en pointe. The most irate looking of the men couldn’t hold his extension long enough to find his balance. Bail was losing patience at their arguing. “Ugh, Satine! Help him, please.” Bail waved a hand dismissively at them as he moved on, needing to get to the other groups.

Satine made a face of displeasure, but begrudgingly made her way over to them. She said something Ben couldn’t quite catch, but he could hear the man’s, “well if it’s that simple, you do it!” To which Satine brought her leg up into an extension as she rose onto full pointe in one fluid motion and held it for a long few seconds. The man’s mouth was agape. He had composed himself by the time she was looking at him again. Ben chuckled under his breath. Satine sighed, an action that could be seen through her entire body. “Let me see what you’re doing,” her voice carried up to Ben. She examined the difficult man and then, “There! Stop trying to put all your weight on that leg!”

               “What do you think?” Qui leaned in towards Ben. He hadn’t even noticed the older man approach and he inwardly scolded himself for not paying attention to anyone except for Satine.

Ben cleared his throat. “Lots of potential.” Qui smiled at him and clucked once with his tongue, saying nothing more.

If Ben couldn’t focus on anything but _her_ , he resolved to at least do it to the best of his ability. Her jumps were high and she could hold her extensions for days, but her beats were sloppy, her legs never quite hitting the same angle in her jumps, her turns could be crisper. He smiled to himself, _if I’m too stiff, you’re not stiff enough, beauty._

After the groups had come back together, Bail moved into testing choreography, something which required pairing people off. Satine was paired with the man from before, Pre, he’d heard his name was. She looked none too happy about her circumstances.

Over the next hour, they watched the disaster unfold. Ben watched Pre gracelessly lift Satine several times and it looked as though Satine was doing most of the work of stabilizing herself while in the air. They couldn’t string anything together. Satine was erratic, never quite executing on the top of the count, frustrating Pre and resulting in them never quite connecting or doing anything in unison.

Qui grunted from beside him. “This is…painful.”

“Quite.” Ben agreed.

“Satine, I swear to God, if you don’t jump on the goddamn count, I will drop you, on purpose.”

Ben could hear the disgusted noise Satine made in response. Her reply was drowned out by Bail loudly chastising whoever was working with Padme for how he was lifting her. The ambience of the room was deteriorating, rapidly.

“Well, better head on down, this hasn’t got more than five more minutes anyway.” Qui winked at Ben and Anakin before heading down the steps, ducking slightly to avoid a railing.

Qui had been right, the class had dissipated shortly after they’d all made it down to the main level. Dancers were trickling out slowly. That man, Pre, walked over to introduce himself to Qui. He had a rather gruff manner about him that Ben didn’t quite like.

Qui took his outstretched hand. “Rough class, was it?”

Pre made a derisive noise.

“You could say that.”

“You don’t seem to get on very well with your partner.”

“Ha.” Pre’s face darkened. “It’s not my fault she’s impossible to partner.” He said it with such certainty, as if it were a widely known fact.

“And why do you think that is?” Qui’s tone was gentle, curious.

“You’re asking the wrong person.”

He gave a nod in Ben and Anakin’s direction and then pushed passed them.

A few moments later, Satine emerged, followed closely by Bail and Padme.

Ben’s heart rate quickened. _Traitorous._ Bail gave an enthusiastic smile, opening his arms wide in invitation. “What do you think gentleman?”

Qui gave a small grunt, clearing his throat, before speaking. “You have a lot of potential here.” He paused for a moment, considering. “I think my potential and your potential just might be perfect for each other.” He gave Bail a sparkling grin.

Bail clapped his hands together once in response, they made a loud _smack_. “Magnifique!” Bail came to place a hand on Qui’s shoulder and guided him a bit away so they could talk more. Anakin had already made his way to Padme and was chittering excitedly at her. Satine approached him slowly, cautiously, and Ben pleaded uselessly with his heart to calm its embarrassing hammering.

“Settling in nicely?” The sound of her voice and her proximity did nothing to help his anxiety. He chastised himself for acting like a grade schooler moony with a crush and told himself very sternly to get his shit together.

He tried to grace her with what he hoped was a charming smirk, but in reality probably came across as a frightful grimace. “Yes, it’s been nice to have a bit of time to settle in and explore.”

“And you find the city agreeable?”

“It’s not so different from London,” Ben thought for a moment, “except New Yorkers seem to be even ruder, if that’s possible.”

His heart flopped precipitously as Satine gave a light, bell-like laugh before nodding her head in agreement.

They chatted idly for a moment, about whether the subway or the tube system in London was a more pleasant experience (they decided on the tube) before Satine asked him the question that allowed him to get a bit of revenge.

“So..what did you think?” She looked down for a brief moment, knowing she was opening herself up to critique.

“Right, what was it you said to me, I was a bit ‘stiff’?”

Satine’s cheeks colored ever so faintly, but she maintained eye contact and nodded curtly.

Ben cocked his head. “You’re a bit loose.”

Satine made a strange choking sound and Ben realized the word ‘loose’ had several other unsavory connotations as Satine’s tone shifted to cooler one, “Meaning?”

“You could clean up a bit, technically.” Ben cleared his throat and covered his mouth with his fist, trying to hide some of the heat that had made it’s way into his cheeks.

“Mmm. And I suppose technicality is the most important thing to you?” Satine’s tone was certainly cooler, but the question sounded genuine.

“Well, it’s important, absolutely!”

“That you’d rather be technically perfect than, I don’t know, interesting?” Satine’s tone made the transition to frost bite inducing with her utterance of ‘interesting’.

Ben was getting flustered. He’d always been argumentative, and his current state was sending him into a fight or flight mode. There was one way he always skewed. He hardened his own tone. “I’d rather be technically sound at the very least.”

Satine scoffed, “Am I not technically sound?”

“Oh, no, that’s not what I was implying—I mean, it could be better, sure.”

“I don’t usually try to focus too hard on perfecting something I’m just learning, I just want to be able to perform it to start.”

It was Ben’s turn to scoff. “Perform? Like you’d do it like that for an audience?” Where Satine was ice, he was fire, ratcheting the heat in his voice up to match the chill in hers, like he was trying to warm himself from the inside.

“I’d prefer that to being soulless!” He could feel the icy fingers caressing his spine.

“You should focus on your technique first and work towards mastery before inserting your own personality! Mastery of technique should be the goal.” Ben insisted, matching Satine’s crossed arms with his own, completely ignorant of just how closely their body language mirrored each other.

“Mastery?” Satine stared at him indignantly. “As if I could be so deluded to think I could master every technique I learned.”

“You might if you even attempted to discipline yourself.” Ben shot back.

“You’re a performer, your livelihood requires you to be _entertaining_ , and I don’t usually derive entertainment from watching someone dance with all of the passion of a window washer!” Satine moved closer as her temper continued to simmer dangerously towards a boil.

“I’m not some simple entertainer, I’m not a magician, I’m not performing party tricks! I’m a master of an art, of a _discipline!”_ Ben’s voice was beginning to rise.

“What makes you different from any other dancer if no one can tell you apart from anyone else?” Satine hissed.

“Of course I can be told apart, having skill is valuable and I very carefully cultivated mine to a level you can’t seem to fathom.” Ben fumed at her, how had this conversation gotten so out of control?

Qui and Bail were listening intently off to the side, watching the two with amusement and whispering to each other. Anakin was watching with a grin, not usually getting to see Ben lose his temper like this. Padme looked on worriedly, used to Satine verbally eviscerating those that made the poor decision to test her like this.

“If you’re so focused on perfection at the cost of actual style, what’s to stop people from recognizing the techniques you perform and ignoring you completely, instead of recognizing you because of the way, _the style and personality,_ with which you perform them? Can someone who doesn’t dance recognize you because of the way you dance and not because of your supposed technical perfection?” Satine’s  voice had the curious quality of kerosene, something dangerous that had to ability to catch fire at any moment. Her tone was still so cold, but that was fine, chilled gasoline was still every bit as flammable. Ben was hell bent on continuing to light matches.

“How can you ever hope to progress or get better if you are so careless? If you can’t be bothered to recognize the value of mastery?” He could feel the heat coming off of himself.

“Your passion and emotional interpretation and performance give you and your audience a way to relate to each other and I don’t understand how you could possibly be so obviously devoted without showing any semblance of passion for what it is you’ve dedicated yourself to. I suppose you have to feel passion to exude any though. In that same vein I suppose you’ve got to have a personality in the first place to have any hope of it coming through when you dance, so… ” Satine trailed off, looking pointedly and disinterestedly off over his shoulder.

 _How dare she_ Ben thought, incensed. How could such a beautiful creature be so infuriating?

“Excuse me!” Ben’s voice went up another few decibels in volume before Qui cut him off by loudly clearing his throat in the corner.

“As entertaining as this has been, I do think that’s enough.” Qui remarked, though the amusement was still apparent in his eyes.

“Passion and discipline are not mutually exclusive.” Bail stated, a knowing quirk to his countenance, while Qui nodded sagely in agreement.

Qui stroked his beard. “Perhaps there is much you will be able to teach one another during our term here.” Bail’s face practically illuminated.

 

Ben and Satine looked at one another and seemed to decide that the concept was laughable at the same moment.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Satine comforted, “Clearly we’re far too different to be compatible partners.”

“On that we agree.” Ben replied.

The air of vitriol being tempered for the moment, Satine and Ben stepped away from each other.

 

Satine walked down the hall, doing an awkward half sideways-half backwards shuffle as her body subconsciously endeavored to keep its hips open to Ben.  “I’ll uhh, be getting ready for class then.” Her tone had lost some of the frigidity.

Ben huffed as he watched her retreat. “Right.” He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

 

 

Ben was sitting in a plush armchair of deep crimson velvet in a room whose only light source was a string of fairy lights when Qui found him. Bail had decided he wanted Qui to instruct the next, and last, class of the day. Qui had subsequently decided that he would leave the instruction up to Ben.

Qui sat in the matching oversized chair next to him, the act of sinking down into the chair audibly squeezing all of the excess air out of the cushion. “I trust you have your lesson planned?”

Ben straightened slightly from his slump, “I do.”

Qui spread one of his large hands in front of him in a “by all means” gesture as he crossed one of his long legs over the other, relaxing into the chair.

“Well, clearly the chemistry is lacking.” Ben began, “And the discipline.” Ben thought back to his spat with Satine and tried his best to mask the dark and tired look that came across his face.

“I was thinking it might benefit the company to take up a yoga practice.”

Qui gave a cheeky grin that sparkled through his eyes. “I think that might be a very good idea, indeed.”

Qui’s seeming approval gave him more confidence in his idea.

“Several benefits really,” Ben continued, righting himself further in the chair, “discipline, flexibility, strength, chemistry.”

Qui nodded beside him, “truly a multi-faceted activity.”

Qui clapped his hands on his thighs and used them to push himself up. “Best get to it, young one, it is almost time.”

Ben smiled at the endearment in spite of himself. He took a few more moments to recover in the solitude of the room. He had to admit that the ambience of the room was relaxing. As much as he despised the recent trendiness of string lights, they were an exquisite reprieve from the harsh industrial lighting of the studio classrooms and floors. He closed his eyes, soaking up the calming environment for a second longer before he set off to run what he was sure would be a contrarily stressful yoga class.

 

Everyone currently present from both the New Republic and the Order came down to participate in the class, even Qui and Bail. Ben told everyone to give themselves some room and led them through some opening breathing exercises. He could see who was taking it seriously and who thought this was an immense waste of time and effort, namely the man from before, Pre was it? Ben led them through some basic asanas, making sure everyone was warmed up. A beginner yoga practice would not be challenging for professional dancers, who certainly had the balance and flexibility required. Ben had no intent of keeping things easy.

Ben had them enter crow pose and from there a bound side crow, a pose heavy on balance and core strength as it had you balancing on your arms as for a handstand with your legs bent and hips open to one side. The Order was used to this kind of yoga practice. Qui had been a believer in the benefits of the strength and flexibility regular practice like this could have for a long time and classes like this were a regular part of their life. As was the case, none of them were struggling at all. A few of their Republic compatriots however, were starting to struggle a bit at this point. From there Ben had them go into a flying pigeon pose. He demonstrated and then began to walk around the room to correct form or provide assistance as needed. It did not escape his notice that Satine had completed everything thus far without struggling.

“How do you get into this one again, I didn’t see him do it.” He heard Padme ask Satine as he approached them. Satine came out of her pose and entered it slowly again as Padme watched. “Use your elbows to steady your leg as you get up.” Ben had tried to approach them, just Satine really, with an air of bristle, but softened upon entering her orbit.

“Well, you two seem to have this one down, practice often ladies?”

Padme didn’t look up, concentrating, as she responded. “Oh, Satine does, almost every day. I do it with her sometimes.”

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly at Padme’s tongue being held firmly between her lips in concentration. He moved his gaze to Satine. She was very stable, and the curve of the muscles in her shoulders and upper back, visible beyond the straps of her leotard, belied that she did probably do something like this with a fair amount of frequency.

“Do you have a scorpion handstand in your practice.” Ben knew she almost certainly did before she nodded her head slightly in affirmation. “Would you be willing to demonstrate?” He saw her mouth form the faintest shadow of a smile before she nodded again.

Ben called attention to Satine to demonstrate their next pose. She didn’t come out of her flying pigeon to do so, she just very firmly pushed her body weight to rest over her shoulders and brought her legs arching over her back and her feet towards her head of pale hair. Ben watched the undulation of her muscles under her ivory skin, gleaming with a fine sheen of perspiration. He gave everyone a few minutes to work it out, instructing Order members to help out where needed if someone was having trouble. He came back to Satine and stated more than asked, “split handstand” and she obliged.

“You’ve all been doing very well, let’s try one last pose before we go into something different.” Ben brought everyone’s attention to him. “One handed handstand?” He tried Satine, she looked up at him and worried her bottom lip with her teeth before shaking her head ‘no’.  “Mind if I borrow your mat?” Satine shook her head ‘no’ and Ben demonstrated. He thought he heard complaints of ‘oh, come on’ and ‘pfft, show off’ coming from somewhere, but shook it off.

“Now, this sets us up nicely for our activities going forward. We’re going to partner off, and help each other accomplish this pose.”

He looked to Satine, “do you think you could do it if I provide some counterbalance?” Satine nodded and smiled ever so slightly and Ben commanded himself to stay focused. “Let’s give it a go then.” Satine got herself into a handstand and arranged her legs in the center split Ben had demonstrated. Ben then asked her which arm she wanted to lift. She considered for the briefest of moments before saying, “the left, I think.” Ben stepped in front of her and took hold of her hips, “ready whenever you are, my dear.” He began to shift her weight over her right arm as she lifted her left off the ground a few timid inches.

“Well done! Really, you’re doing most of the work here, I’m just stabilizing you and offsetting some of the weight.” Ben addressed the class at large. “Get into partners, your usual pairs if you have them, and try this.” Ben tapped his fingers against Satine’s hip bone where he was holding her. “Firm hold and slight shift of weight until they can lift their hand.” Ben then addressed Satine, “Let’s get you down now, my dear.” He shifted her hips back toward the center and let her put her hand back down before releasing her. He tried not to pay attention to the insistent warm tingling afflicting both of his hands.

Refocusing himself, he beckoned Anakin to him. “Now, if the strength is there and the balance is the issue…” Anaking rolled his eyes and got himself into the same handstand. Ben walked to his right foot, knowing he preferred to lift his left hand. Ben took Anakin’s right foot and pulled it to the side as Anakin lifted his left hand off the floor. “Just a little bit of counter balance.” Ben released Anakin’s foot. He left everyone to pairing off and floated around the room, making corrections and helping as needed.

After this exercise was done Ben, with the help of Anakin, introduced the pairs to acro yoga poses. They went through several basic poses, which most completed without issue. “Okay, we’ll try one more, don’t worry if you don’t get it, we’re just building here. A third person can be helpful to have around for this one too as a spotter.” Qui took up the spotting mantle as Ben and Anakin demonstrated the pose. They then walked around. Anakin walked off towards where Padme was paired with her usual incompatible partner and Ben walked off to where Satine was paired with hers. The pose they were working on had the base standing and started with the flyer climbing onto their thigh. “Satine, I swear you’re gaining weight.” Pre complained, clearly meaning his comment to be incendiary. Satine snorted, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I was.” Pre was clearly disappointed at the lack of a response he’d generated. “Maybe you should stop lifting so much and you’d be easier to lift.” They were on their third try of the start of the pose since Ben had been watching them.

“The weight of your partner really shouldn’t be a problem with this pose.” Ben interjected, startling Pre slightly. “I think more of the problem here,” Ben gestured Satine to come towards him, “is that she doesn’t trust you.” Satine made a face, Pre smiled maniacally, thinking his long-suffering campaign had finally been validated. “And why would she?” Satine’s dark face illuminated and Pre’s face crumpled.

“A stronger, more stable partner is _always_ more desirable.” He pulled Satine towards him by the hand, ignoring the jolt the contact of her skin made surge up his arm. He whispered discreetly by her ear under the guise of setting up the pose, “I need you to trust me, so we can make a proper idiot out of him. I won’t let you fall.” He promised. Ben let Satine set her foot on his thigh as he leaned back to counter balance them while she got her balance, he wrapped his hand around her thigh, alarmed when he caught sight of what he thought couldn’t possibly be a blush rising to her sharp cheeks. He braced them and Satine leaned out to finish the pose.

 

Bail was walking by with Qui just then and sighed happily. “Ah, how beautiful.” Satine had been trying to hold back a smile, but it overcame her and she let the flush on her face be attributed to the effort of maintaining the pose. It felt good not to be dropped. It felt good to be acknowledged for being strong and capable, and as alarming as it was to have his hand wrapped around her thigh, the warmth and weight of it felt good through the thin fabric of her tights. Ben helped her down, she let go of his hand more slowly than was strictly necessary. The indignation she had felt towards him earlier forgotten. She relished in the sparks sizzling through her fingertips as she let his hand slide out of hers. Ben walked back to the front of the room and ended the class.

“So we’ll see you at dinner, later?” she began as she started walking to the side of the room to collect her belongings. Padme had walked up behind her and Anakin had come to talk to Ben.

Anakin clapped Ben on the shoulder, “Yeah, we’ll be there.”

“We were wondering,” Padme bit her bottom lip and glanced at Satine questioningly, who nodded her head, “if you’d want to come out with us,” Padme and Satine shared a look again. “After, we mean.” Satine finished for her. Ben’s eyebrows shot up and Satine rushed to explain further, “for a few drinks, the place we’re going for dinner really only has expensive cocktails and we thought you’d like to know where some of the decent spots for cheaper alcohol are.” She shrugged her shoulders noncommittally.

Ben looked to Anakin, who looked as bewhildered as Ben felt underneath a barely-in-place playing it cool façade. “I think we would enjoy having this valuable inside knowledge, yes.”

“Great, well, we’ll see you later then!” Padme giggled as her and Satine turned to leave.

Ben and Anakin were rooted to the spot, processing on a bit of a delay.

Finally, Anakin spoke. “Well, I think that went rather well.” The smile in his voice was apparent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm not sure how many chapters this will turn out to be, but it will probably be around 10 or so, and I tend to write longer chapters. I'm going to try to update on a more regular weekly schedule but there might be some longer gaps between updates. Also, as a heads up, the rating on this is definitely going to get bumped up in later chapters. I know smut isn't everyone's thing so I'm considering putting lemons in their own separate chapters that can be skipped over or just posting a separate version of this story that is lemon-free. Here's the link to the yoga poses mentioned in the chapter https://halfofmysoulistrees.tumblr.com/post/187447094639/guide-to-the-yoga-poses-mentioned-in-ch-2-of-the
> 
> I'm @halfofmysoulistrees on tumblr.

**Author's Note:**

> I always have trouble trying to fit names into modern AUs, like Satine, Padme, and Anakin are all kind of out there, but passable, where as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan-- not so much. I'm having a lot of fun writing this, please let me know what you think!
> 
> I'm on tumblr as halfofmysoulistrees, drop by anytime.


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